This is an organization is close to our heart! Not that all of them we participate in aren’t, but this one helps us bring our culinary skills to the table and feed those less fortunate. Along with 51 other restaurants, caterers and hoteliers, we help feed the hungry with the “Charleston Chefs Feed the Need”. This program, created by Mickey Bakst of Charleston Grill at Charleston Place Hotel, along with the Greater Charleston Restaurant Association, is the nation’s first organized relief effort in which meals are cooked and served by the hospitality community on a year-round basis. Each Wednesday, one of the participants donates their food, time and labor for 500 free meals at four area nonprofits that help feed Tricounty Family Ministries, East Cooper Meals on Wheels, Crisis Ministries and Neighborhood House. According to the Charleston City Paper, Bakst says that those donated meals save the charities about $1,500 per week and we’re proud to help be a part of feeding the need. We are also honored to have our own executive chef/owner, John Zucker, serving as Vice President to this wonderful organization.

Since inception Feed the Need has served over 25,000 meals and saved over $75,000 in food expenses.For more information on Charleston Chefs Feed The Need visit them online at feedtheneedcharleston.org.

Press Release

LOCAL CHEFS RALLY TO FEED HUNGRY THROUGH NEW INITIATIVE

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Soup kitchens throughout the Lowcountry will serve more than 20,000 meals prepared by top local chefs over the coming year, thanks to a new community initiative launched today.

Charleston Chefs Feed the Need, a coalition of 52 restaurants, caterers and hoteliers who have rallied to help feed the hungry, will assist local emergency food providers as they face budget cuts and increasing demands. The program, established by Mickey Bakst of Charleston Grill at Charleston Place Hotel in conjunction with the Greater Charleston Restaurant Association, is the nation’s first organized relief effort in which meals will be cooked and served by the hospitality community on a year-round basis.

“As more and more people lose their jobs and homes, the demand within our food shelters grows, and they cannot keep up without help,” said Charleston Grill Manager Mickey Bakst, who got the idea for Feed the Need after learning that a budget crunch had forced Crisis Ministries to close its soup kitchen once a week. “It seems only natural that we , as individuals and as members of the food community, would want to help in any way we can.”

Bakst hopes to see Feed the Need replicated in cities throughout the country.

Each Wednesday, one participant will donate food and labor for 400 free meals. The meals will be served in coordination with four local nonprofits—Tricounty Family Ministries, East Cooper Meals on Wheels, Crisis Ministries and Neighborhood House—on a rotating schedule to be administered by the Lowcountry Food Bank.

The first meal will be served by the Charleston Grill on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Feed the Need comes at a time when layoffs and foreclosures are triggering a surge in the number of people — many of them middle class families with children — who are turning to food providers for sustenance. Already this year, East Cooper Meals on Wheels’ has delivered 20 percent more meals than in 2008, and more than 45 percent of public school students are relying daily on the free or reduced lunch program. Overall, local emergency food providers saw a 36 percent increase in demand last year.

Donations to benefit all the nonprofit agencies can be made through Crisis Ministries: PO Box 20038, Charleston SC 29413 (checks should be made out to Crisis Ministries with “Charleston Chefs” in the memo).

Press Room

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Fresh from the Oven

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